Archive for February, 2007

I can do all things

Posted February 26, 2007 * Comments(17)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 
-  Philipians 4:13
 
I want to give all glory to God, because without Christ and the strength He gives me, I’d be right back where I was a few months ago.  As far as my weight was concerned, I was completely and totally hopeless. 
 
You know, I’ve tried loosing weight on my own so many times that I don’t want to think about it.  I have even gone through times where I didn’t even try because I’d come to believe it was impossible.  I became what is called an “avoider”.  I’d avoid confronting my situation at all because of the fear of not being able to beat it.  I’d tell myself that I don’t deserve to be thin because I can’t keep the weight off.  Being fat gave me an excuse to be depressed, and an excuse to avoid people and events in my life.  By avoiding my situation, and ignoring the fact that I am morbidly obese, I enabled myself to avoid failure by not even trying. 
 
God came into my life almost seven years ago, when my father died suddenly at the young age of 51.  That story is for another time though, because that would lead me off into a lengthy tangent!  When God came into my life, He began making changes, and those changes have been ongoing ever since.  He began working on my soul before he began working on my bad habits.  Essentially, He is cleaning house, and there is quite a bit of cleaning that needs to be done.  Slowly, but surely, it is getting done.  He is molding and shaping me into what He wants me to be, and I couldn’t be happier.
 
Once I let go, and gave God control of the reins, I learned that He can do remarkable things.  He can do things that I know I cannot.  He gave me the strength to quit smoking two years ago (I smoked at least one pack a day for 22 years).  He feeds my marriage, He has made it a tremendously fulfilling relationship….you might say He was the “missing ingredient”.  He has given me insight into the beauty of my children and all that they are, which has made me a much better parent then I ever thought possible.
 
When I began this journey of weight loss on January 7, 2007, I began it with Him in the lead.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  You see, Christ is not my co-pilot, He is my pilot.  Otherwise, things would get all screwed up with me trying to be in control.  As long as I follow Him, I know I’ll be okay.  It is when I stray and listen to my own yearnings that I fail. 
 
I am early yet in my progress, I have quite a ways to go, as a matter of fact, this journey is never ending.  There is no ending when I hit a certain number.  The numbers are merely a way to gauge my progress.  This is the way my life is, and will be from here on out, and I am so good with that.  My soul is content with this, all of me is content with this, because I am in good hands.  I am in God’s hands.  There is no better place to be.

RED HOTTIES ROCK!!!

Posted February 25, 2007 * Comments(10)

I’m going to keep this short for today.  I know, you’re all greatly surprised cuz’ normally I go on and on.    I normally don’t write on the weekends either because I’m too busy doing things with the hubby and kids that I don’t get the chance to write here. 

But I just had to write a little something, because I am so THRILLED with my weight loss last week!  I have met my first mini goal of 300, and actually passed that and am down to 299.  I’ve officially lost 10% of my initial body weight and couldn’t be more happy!  I am finally back in the 200’s, and will NEVER see 300+ again!  WOOT!!!  My hubby is taking me to see the new movie, “23″ to celebrate.  I LOVE going to the movies, and it’s a much better way to celebrate instead of the old way of having food to celebrate!  Of course, I will have a little bit of popcorn, no butter added.  But, that’s a good snack, so no guilt there! 

A BIG THANK YOU to my fellow RED HOTTIES for the daily motivation!  I forgot to send my weigh in this morning before we went out to church and then church ran late because we had a “town meeting” thing where we had lunch and discussed where we want our church to be in the future.  I was dying to get home and get my weigh in sent to Wonder Woman lol! 

What an awesome day for all of us Red Hotties, to have won a 2nd time!  Let it be what sets the tone for all of us throughout the rest of the week!

RED HOTTIES ROCK! 

Doing good today!

Posted February 22, 2007 * Comments(9)
My foot is a lot better again today, but it still isn’t 100%.  It’s still stiff and a bit painful, can’t quite walk right yet, so I’m not going to go for my walk again today.  But, will do my cardio on the elliptical bike yet again.  That is one heck of a workout, by the way!  I am sure that my weight loss this next Sunday will prove to be as good as usual. 
The bike is such a good workout that when I get back to walking daily again, I will still continue to do the bike three days a week on top of the walking and strength training. 
I’m actually very glad that I hurt my foot.  Sounds silly, I know.


But, it has shown me how strong I am on the inside now, and I am very thankful for that.  When I first fell, there was a split second there where I saw what was happening and clearly thought, “I am going all the way down the stairs.”  It was quite scary, so I screamed.  Thankfully my reflexes are still good and I grabbed the stair rail and only fell down the top three or four stairs.  In a heartbeat my husband and 14 year old son were there at my side, and a second later, there was my 5 year old son.  Thinking back on that now, my heart is full of love for those three of my men (my 11 year old son was asleep). 

 
I sat there crying with thoughts running through my head.  Thinking “How am I going to workout now, how am I going to loose weight.  I may as well quit the Red Hotties until I’m better because otherwise I’m just going to let everyone down.”  Seriously, those were my thoughts, and I sat there crying, feeling like a failure.  That is when it hit me, NOTHING this minor is going to stop me!  I WILL NOT be a failure!  It’s going to take a lot more then a twisted foot to bring me down! 
 
So, my fellow Red Hotties that may be reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You are inspiring me and motivating me, and I love you all! 
 
Since beginning to blog here, I have had the full intentions of only being positive here because being positive here will reflect on all my life and will help me to be positive in all ways.  Today I want to be positive by stating a few things I am thankful for this week:
 
1.  I am thankful for God and His love that is always with me.
2.  I am thankful for my family and their undying support.
3.  I am thankful for my Red Hotties Teammates, who inspire and motivate me.
4.  I am thankful for all my other Buddyslim buddies, who also provide their support and inspiration.
5.  I am thankful for what I am becoming, my life is GOOD!

 
 

Injured my foot & ankle

Posted February 20, 2007 * Comments(15)
Hello there my fellow buddies!  Sorry I’ve not written in so long.  I’ve had the hubby home for an almost 4 day weekend, and when he is home I don’t spend much time on the computer.  We had a great day yesterday, went to H&R Block and had our taxes done.  In a few weeks we’ll have some money to play with.  That can always brighten a day!  We then went mall walking and bought a nice new set of pots & pans, and a vacuum cleaner (ours died), we got a Dyson DC-17 Animal.  Sounds like an airplane, I know.  Tired of buying cheapies every two years we decided to spend the extra $ and get something good.  You wouldn’t believe the amount of dirt that thing got out of our carpets, and I seriously thought they were really clean because I always keep up on them by vacuuming daily and using the steamer on them about twice a month.

We ate at the Panda Express in the mall.  Instead of the usual orange chicken and fried rice, I got mandarin chicken without the sauce and their mixed veggies for the side.  I ate half and saved half to eat for lunch today, and I also had water instead of the soda I used to have when we’d eat out.  I didn’t use any soy sauce like I normally would, either.  Very proud of myself for the excellent food choices I made there!

So, yesterday was going GREAT!  I got in my morning workout before we went out for the day, and then in the evening instead of walking outside, as per usual, I decided to walk on my treadmill for the heck of it.  I was just over 30 minutes into my 40 minute walk when the damn thing died on me.  I think the motor finally burned out on it, because of the smell.  Quite upset about it, I thought I’d go outside and walk around the block to get my last 10 minutes in.  At the top of the stairs was an empty water bottle someone had left laying there (not pointing fingers) and I was too focused on keeping up my heart rate to pay attention to what I was doing.  I stepped on the water bottle, it rolled under my foot and I slipped and fell down the top four stairs…luckily I was able to grab the hand rail and prevent myself from falling all the way down the stairs.  It would’ve been quite comical if I hadn’t had twisted my foot & ankle.  Anyway, to make a long story a bit shorter, I couldn’t finish up my walk due to the agony of my foot.  I don’t think I’ll be able to get in my walk today either, but am hoping that it will be all better by tomorrow, or the day after at the latest.
I had a mad urge to feel sorry for myself this morning because the top of my foot & my ankle are so stiff and painful still.  But, I didn’t.  I still got in my strength training and was able to ride my elliptical bike for the usual 3 minute warm up before.  So, the plan is tonight instead of my usual walk around the block during my son’s karate, I will be riding that elliptical bike for 2 miles instead.  Wish me luck!
I am still IN THE GAME, am all for my RED HOTTIES team, WE ROCK !!!   This minor yet painful injury is NOT going to bring me down!   
I lost 3 pounds last week, and I am aiming for at least that again this week.  This is merely a small set back and I just gotta get creative; I WILL NOT THROW IN THE TOWEL!!! 
 
God bless you all, I hope you’re having an awesome week!

It’s V-Day

Posted February 14, 2007 * Comments(13)
Myspace Layouts
HAPPY VALENTINE’S

 
I am so psyched and motivated to be a Red Hottie and to be a part of this challenge!  I do hope that we all do well, (both teams included).  I am doing the best I can for my team, and will NOT let them down!  My usual exercise routine involves 40 minute strength training in the morning and a 40 minute walk in the evening.  Normally we walk 1.2 miles in that 40 minutes, but last night we walked 2.0 miles, so I have stepped it up a bit.  So far this week, I’ve also stayed OP as far as my eating goes too.  I will continue to do so.  I have pledged a 3 pound loss for the week (although I will try for more!), and I have also pledged to not let a single cake, cookie or candy to pass my lips.  A pledge to me is a promise, and I take promises very seriously and will NOT let you guys down!
 
You may have noticed I changed my default picture to one that shows my “before” photo and the one my daughter took of me last night.  I don’t look all that different, but there are some subtle changes there so I went ahead and posted it.  I still have such a long way to go, but it’s all good because this new lifestyle is just that, a new lifestyle and there’s no stopping it.  I think I will have to wear a red shirt and take another picture to show my team spirit!
 
I also added a picture there from when my hubby and I went to the Marine Corps Ball this last November, so go take a look!
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I got myself two books last night, “You on a diet” and “The best life diet”.  I haven’t gotten too much reading in on them yet due to being to busy with family life last night and then my workout this morning, but so far they are proving to be two great books and I think I will be highly recommending them to you all soon (if you haven’t already read them, that is).
 
Take care you guys, and have a blessed day!
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4 more gone

Posted February 12, 2007 * Comments(13)

Happy Monday to everyone!
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I haven’t gotten the chance to catch up on everyone yet, so hoping that all my buddies had a great weekend!
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My weekend was great!  Everything went so well.  I think my favorite part of it was when my step father first saw me he said I looked great, like I’ve been loosing weight.  I jokingly said, “Yeah, I bet mom coached you on the way down!”  He said that she didn’t and that he had no idea I’d been working out and whatnot.  My mom confirmed it, he really was clueless.  So it was nice to know that people really can Tell.  I should have my daughter take another picture of me to compare with the one I have on here.  I’ve been afraid to do that for fear of looking the same.
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I was able to hold off all temptations through the weekend.  The one I was most proud of was Friday night we were so busy that we picked up McDonald’s for dinner and I ate so well!  I ordered a grilled premium classic chicken sandwich with no Mayo and instead of fries had a side salad.  What I actually ate was just the chicken, 1/2 of the top bun (I gave the others to my son who wanted them), and my side salad with only 1/3 of the packet of ranch dressing on it.
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My son’s birthday party was great fun, I managed to avoid temptations there also.  I ate and drank well, no slip ups.  We even went for a good walk while my husband was BBQ’ing the chicken/burgers and dogs.  I ate one chicken breast (boneless, skinless with teriyaki sauce), 1/2 a corn on the cob, and some of the oriental Bok Choy salad I made.  That is so delicious, you gotta try it.  I got in all of my water for the day and drank plenty of my diet green tea, too.
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Thank you to everyone for their well wishes this last weekend!
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My weigh in Sunday was a good one!  I lost yet another 4 pounds!  Woot! 
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I think the day it’s something other then 4 pounds, I might hallucinate 4 pounds just because that is what I have gotten used to seeing!  My total weight loss for the past 5 weeks is now at 30!
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One bit of bad news, the friend of mine from church who started up this “Biggest Loser” contest is having some health issues which may require her to drop out of the game.  It won’t be as much fun without her, as I don’t know two of the other three people involved.  Just met em’ the one time when we got together to start it.  But I’m in it for the long haul, no matter what.    So far I’m smokin’ em’ all!   
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How did it get to be Thursday so quickly?

Posted February 8, 2007 * Comments(11)
Wow, I can’t believe that it is already Thursday!  It is amazing how the time flies.  It really does seem to speed up the older I get, too.  Only three more days to loose weight before my next weigh in! 
 
Thanks to Wonder Woman and her challenge, I had a GREAT day yesterday.  It’s crazy how motivated I have been feeling these past four weeks.  I never thought I could feel this way.  I wish that everyone could feel like this.  I feel GREAT!  Very rarely do I crave foods that aren’t good for me.  I very rarely feel like gorging on snack foods any more either.  I just am happy “being”, if you know what I mean.
 
This week has been a crazy hectic one and I’ve discovered that my exercising has become an integral part of what I do.  On Monday, when I was first reviewing everything I would have to do for the week, I thought it might be hard for me to get in my usual workouts.  But it truly hasn’t been.  Because my daily workouts have become an integral part of my day, I can’t go without them.  They have essentially become part of who I am and what I do.  Right along with all my other daily duties.  IE:  clean the house, get the kids ready and to school, cook meals, feed all the animals, taking the boys to karate….the things that are my regular daily responsibilities.  My workouts are no different, and I can’t say how very thankful to God I am that my workouts have easily become a routine in my day, rather than a chore I “have to do”. 
 
I hope that I never come down off of my euphoric high, I quite like it.
 
A quick update on my brother; he’s doing the same.  Not much of an update, I know.  But, at least it isn’t bad news!  He still has to take the blood thinners via shots twice a day and pills twice a day, and he’s also on morphine still from the back pain from his surgery.  He has to see a doctor three times a week to make sure the clots are under control and his situation is still a precarious one, as the clots could still break off into large ones and lodge themselves where it would cause a quick death.  But, he is in good spirits and he’s actually taking care of himself, which is a feat in and of itself!
 
If I don’t get on tomorrow to say hi, I would like to wish you all  a very happy weekend now!

 

Busy week ahead

Posted February 5, 2007 * Comments(6)

I had a great weekend!  I hope you all did too.  At my weigh in yesterday, I was delighted to find that I had lost another 4 pounds.  I think it’s pretty awesome how consistent the weight   loss has been, and I sure wish it would continue to do so.  But I will always be happy as long as I have a loss, no matter what that loss is.  I just want to be a consistent loser!
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Loser
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I had a great rest day yesterday, I even had 1 1/2 slices of a supreme pizza for dinner.  What a nice treat that was!  I truly believe that giving myself a rest day every Sunday will help me get through every week.  I highly recommend it to everyone!  I did still get in a walk, it was equal to half of my usual daily walk.  It   felt great to get that in.
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Vacation 1   
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TOM has come for a visit today…I’m sure he will overstay his welcome just like always.  So, I don’t know what to expect when my next weigh in comes around.  He’ll be gone from then and I intend to continue OP while he’s here, so I’m hoping my   next weigh in won’t suffer too badly from his visit.  
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Club
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This week is going to be a very busy one for me.  Our son Nick is turning 11 this Saturday, the 10th, and we’re having some family down to visit.  Near the end of the week I’ll have to start getting things ready for that.  Every other Thursday we have a bible study group we attend, and every other session it’s our turn to lead the group.  This Thursday happens to be our turn, so we’ve got to get some studying in before then.  I’ve also got a little project I’ll be working on this week to get my mom’s belated birthday present finished.  I can’t discuss it in detail here because last week I sent her an invite to join the site herself and although she hasn’t yet, she might and I wouldn’t want her reading about it here.  We also have karate every day of the week except for Sundays, but that is nothing new.  This Friday is picture day at the dojo though.  The pictures   always turn out so good!  I won’t get them until some time in March though.
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Stationary Bike

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It is vitally important to me that I remain OP this week even though things will be a bit more hectic then the usual.  So that is my goal for this week!  To stay OP no matter what!  I hope that you all are having a GREAT Monday and that you all have a wonderful week!